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1. 'Too Funky'
George Michael

"Would you like me to seduce you? Is that what you're trying to tell me?"
George Michaels' 1992 hit single begins with these lines from the The Graduate in a scene where Anne Bancroft rolls down her stockings, trying to seduce a very young Dustin Hoffman. The video featured some of the '90s greatest supermodels Linda Evangelista, Tyra Banks, Beverly Peele, Nadja Auermann, Emma Sjöberg, and Estelle Hallyday – walking down a catwalk with George filming them and musically, it was the most upbeat record George had released since Faith almost five years previously.

'Too Funky' was George's final single for his publishing deal with Sony Music before he started legal action to extricate himself from his contract. 'Too Funky' had been initially earmarked for a follow-up to the album Listen Without Prejudice Vol. 1 but George shelved the idea, instead donating it, along with three other songs, to the project Red Hot + Dance, which raised money for AIDS awareness. George subsequently donated the 'Too Funky' royalties to the same cause. The song didn't appear on any George Michael studio album, although later it was included on his solo collection Ladies & Gentlemen: The Best of George Michael.

In 1992 'Too Funky' was the most frequently played track in Europe and there's no reason why it shouldn't make its way back to your iPods now. With fashion week around the corner, 'Too Funky' is just one of those songs that put you in a very fashionable mood!
 
2. 'Simarik'
Tarkan Tevetolu

Tarkan Tevetolu, popularly known as Tarkan, is a successful World Music award-winning pop music singer in Turkey. He has released several platinum-selling albums during his career, with an estimated 15 million albums sold, and is also involved in producing music through his own music company HITT Music, which he established in 1997.
In July 1997, he released the song 'Simarik' in Turkey from the album Ölürüm Sana (I'd Die For You). The song became an instant hit. The album took a total of three years to complete. Tarkan collaborated once more with Aksu and music engineer Ozan Çolakolu for the album. He thanked them for this during his speech, which he delivered after winning his first music industry award for his song 'Simarik'. In Turkey, Ölürüm Sana sold 4.5 million copies alone. It was an indication of things to come.

Signed up by the French branch of recording label PolyGram (now Universal Music), when the album's single 'Simarik' was released in 1999 in Europe, it reached number three in places like Switzerland, the Netherlands, France, and Germany, and it reached number one in Belgium. He was awarded with his gold disc at the Cannes Midem Awards and he became the first artist of Turkish origin to sell 500,000 albums in France.

 

3. '1973'
James Blunt

James Blunt is an English singer-songwriter whose debut album, Back to Bedlam, and single releases - especially the number one hit 'You're Beautiful', brought him to fame in 2005. His style is a mix of pop and acoustic rock.

And this month, in September, Blunt released his second studio album called All The Lost Souls. He completed the songs for the album at his home in Ibiza through the winter of 2006-07. Five of the ten songs on the album have been performed during his 2005-06 tours; and the first single from the album is called '1973' and was inspired by Blunt's nights out in a club called Pacha, in Ibiza, which opened that year. The song is a gorgeous vintage number. Blunt sings: "Simona/You're getting older/Your journey's been etched/On your skin/Simona/Wish I had known that/What seemed so strong/Has been and gone". Great new track that has to be downloaded by all means.

 
4. 'On the Beach'
Chris Rea

Christopher Anton Rea is a singer-songwriter, from Middlesbrough, England who has sold 30 million albums worldwide.

Whatever Happened to Benny Santini was Rea's debut album, released in 1978 and its first single 'Fool (if You Think It's Over)', is his biggest hit in the United States, peaking at number twelve on the Billboard Hot 100. Most of Rea's numbers are masterpieces – and 'On the Beach' isn't any less. It has a dreamy, sensual feel – and once you hear it, you feel yourself transported to the frothy seaside.
"Forever in my dreams my heart will be/Hanging on to this sweet memory/A day of strange desire/And a night that burned like fire/Take me back to the place that I know/On the beach…", sings Rea in the song – download it now!

 
5. 'Rush Rush'
Paula Abdul

Paula Julie Abdul is American multi-platinum selling Grammy Award-winning singer, dancer, television personality, jewelry designer, and Emmy Award-winning choreographer.

In the 1980s, Abdul rose from being a cheerleader for the Los Angeles Lakers NBA basketball team to being a sought-after choreographer at the height of the music video era, then to being a Pop-R&B singer with a string of hits in the late 1980s and early 1990s. The song 'Rush Rush' was a turning point for Abdul's career, as it was her first ballad released, following five upbeat songs. It was considered a risk to release a ballad first off the album because most of her success prior to the album had been in dance music but despite that the song became her biggest hit to date.
The video features a street race and co-stars (a very yummy looking) Keanu Reeves, drawing inspiration for its look from the film Rebel without a Cause. So for all you jilted romantics and lovers out there, give this song a listen.
 
6. 'Mad World'
Gary Jules

'Mad World' was originally by the British band Tears for Fears and was released in October 1982. The song hit the number three spot on the UK charts. In 2001 the song reappeared after 20 years as the Donnie Darko sound track covered by composer Michael Andrews and Gary Jules. The song is about a person's perspective of life and how everyone is running to get somewhere while the original version had a lot of synthesizers, making it somewhat of a dance number. The latest is stripped down to a few piano chords and cello. The single was officially released as the Donnie Darko sound track in 2003 and managed to take the number one spot in UK. Since then it has been on a lot of TV serials as a background score, namely Smallville and Judging Amy. Its popularity has also taken it to the world of video games and appears at the X box 360 game commercial gears of war so check it out now.